April 2009

Nationwide Frequency and Costs of Potentially Preventable Hospitalizations, 2006

Researchers from the federal Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality sought to present national hospitalization trends on potentially preventable conditions. The report uses statistics from the 2006 Nationwide Inpatient Sample, a nationally representative database of hospital inpatient stays in all short-term, non-Federal hospitals. The data are drawn from hospitals that comprise 90% of all discharges in the United States and include all patients, regardless of insurance type, as well as the uninsured.

In 2006, about 4.4 million hospital admissions were due to potentially preventable congestive heart failure, bacterial pneumonia, diabetes complications, asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, urinary tract infections, or dehydration. The conditions are considered to be potentially preventable with timely and effective ambulatory care or adequate patient self-management for the conditions.